As a long time Linux user, I'm all for ditching the Microsoft Office suite. Its not that its "bad", its just not free.
Here is an article about some of the advantages a teacher saw in swapping Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) for Microsoft Word. Google drive has its own costs associated with it, namely the giving of data to Google (presumably for "not-evil" purposes)
The big advantages the teacher saw were easier collaboration, built-in version control, and the leaving behind of comparability issues.
I know that some people write about stuff they just plain couldn't give to Google. What about you? Could you make the switch?
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Interesting article, Tim. I used the old Google Docs in a couple of large projects back in 2008, but haven't done much more than play with it on occasion since then. Perhaps it's time for me to give it another, serious, try. I'm still in the early stages (pre-preproposal) of my dissertation writing and am wondering whether swapping to Google Docs would help or hinder my committee's activities.
ReplyDeleteBut the article mentioned something else, really just in passing, that I have NOT tried before. "Trello". After reading the article I created a new account and am now playing with it. Wow! Interesting! It reminds me a bit of a Pinterest board (for those of you that know what that is) except on steroids. I'm not sure how much I'm going to like it over time, or how much I'm going to be able to use it, but I am DEFINITELY giving it a try today. I'll be sure and post an update here on the blog later if I find that I LOVE it (or probably even if I don't).
Thanks so much for the article link, the tip, and the introduction to some new (or re-newed) concepts and tools! And as you all probably know by now...I am a BIG fan of COOL TOOLS!!!
I also signed up for a Trello account. I wonder about using it to write a book with.
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